Secular trends of obesity and cardiovascular risk factors in a Mediterranean population

To evaluate time trends of obesity, abdominal obesity, and cardiovascular risk factors (CRFs) according to BMI and waist circumference (WC) categories in a Mediterranean population.

Subjects were Spanish men (n = 2383) and women (n = 2525) 25 to 74 years old, examined in 1994 to 1995 and 1999 to 2000 in two independent population-based cross-sectional surveys in the northeast of Spain. Lifestyle measures, CRFs, and anthropometric variables were analyzed.

Over the 5 years of the study, mean age-standardized BMI increased by 1.0 units in men and by 0.8 units in women. At the same time the prevalence of obesity increased from 15.4% to 21.9% in men and from 15.4% to 21.4% in women. An upward trend was observed for WC and abdominal obesity (WC > 102 cm in men and WC > 88 cm in women) only in men. The proportion of men and women with hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, and low high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol plasma concentration remained stable within BMI and WC categories. The proportion of hypertension and smoking in obese men significantly increased from 1995 to 2000.

The 5-year increase in BMI and WC is of considerable magnitude in the present population, although several CRFs remained stable within BMI and WC categories.